Currently about 540 top BBC managers share a pot of £2.9m to help with what one staff member called "essentially, free cars".

They are entitled to about £7,800 a year or £650 a month if they are in the top grade of senior management and £4,800 or £400 a month if they are in the lower band.

Michelle Stanistreet, the NUJ general secretary, said: "Many people have suggested half the savings (£3m) being looked for by cutting UPA (£6m) could be achieved through senior managers giving up their car allowances, paid as a matter of course whether individuals come to work by car or can even drive.

"We are calling on the BBC to ask these managers to voluntarily surrender these contractual car allowances at a time when the BBC is facing such financial pressure."

The change to the allowances for new senior managers was announced in an email by the BBC director of business operations, Lucy Adams.

She said the move was prompted by complaints during staff during DQF workshops about getting rid of UPAs, which are paid to staff to compensate them for having shifts altered.

Adams said: "Another issue raised in the workshops has been the issue of consistency – why remove UPA for new joiners without doing something similar to other allowances, in particular the allowances which are offered to some senior managers?

"In fact, we have already announced that private health insurance will not be offered to new SMs in the future. But we have now also decided that new SMs will no longer be offered a car allowance. This will ultimately contribute around £100k per year to our overall savings target."

The corporation has agreed to transfer the talks about UPAs into a wider review of pay and pay grades.

"This is a demonstration of the pressure exerted by union members at the BBC, and the arguments which have been made by your negotiators and we welcome this change in approach, however it does not go far enough," Stanistreet said.

"The BBC has refused to agree that new joiners will be treated in the same way. They have refused to lift the imposition date of April next year and are continuing to insist that UPA and flexibility allowance will stop at that point for new staff.

The NUJ is urging its members to vote yes in the strike ballot, which ends on 24 November.

If action goes ahead it could disrupt shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and the BBC's Christmas schedule.

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